Sharks have been skating with just one goal: Growth

San Jose Sharks team celebrates win against Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday, May 12, 2011. (Josie Lepe/San Jose Mercury News)

There is a handwritten word at the top of Todd McLellan's office whiteboard. It has been the Sharks' mantra all season.

Growth.

After winning a hard-fought Game 7 against Detroit on Thursday, the Sharks find themselves in the same place they were 12 months ago. Now, as they enter the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year, the question to be answered is whether the Sharks have grown enough to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history.

"Maybe," defenseman Dan Boyle said, "the growth starts now."

But as the Sharks prepare for Game 1 against Vancouver on Sunday, this team already has shown both subtle and obvious signs of a maturing team that is perhaps ready to take that next step.

Players, starting with captain Joe Thornton, have sacrificed personal aspects of their games for the team. Throughout the season, the Sharks also have shown an ability to rebound from hard times "... like finding a way to win a series after losing three consecutive games.

That's why McLellan, the day after the Sharks sent the Red Wings home for the summer, pointed to something else scrawled on his whiteboard: Adversity breeds growth.

"That's a sentence I really like," he said.

The office board has become a good way to gauge the Sharks' mindset. Before last season, as San Jose was coming off the embarrassing 2009 first-round playoff exit at the hands of Anaheim, there was a different message.

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It read: Reputation. Everyone has one. Are you happy with yours? Collectively? Individually?

The Sharks weren't, and they would go a long way in changing their image as postseason underachievers by roaring into the Western Conference Finals last spring.

Once there, though, they were swept away by Chicago. Almost from the moment Game 4 ended, McLellan began talking about how the Sharks would be wasting an opportunity if they didn't, yes, grow from that experience.

The difference between success and failure in the NHL Playoffs is as thin as a skate blade. And the Sharks appear to have learned some valuable lessons from past disappointments.

For instance, McLellan has talked at length about how Thornton has altered his game -- focusing less on points and more on doing whatever it takes to just win. That attitude has trickled down to the rest of the team.

"If you see your leader fighting it, pushing back, not buying in or accepting it, then you're going to have a lot tougher time," McLellan said. "When 'Jumbo' does it and does it right, the next layer do a good job of accepting their roles."

Dany Heatley, whose offensive production also has taken a dip, is an example.

"I'm sure Dany was disappointed with his goal total (26) this season," McLellan added. "But he contributed in different areas like the penalty kill. He's a lot like (Thornton) in that we've asked him to do more in other areas and not just shoot the puck."

The Sharks also are benefiting from an education at the School of Hard Knocks. Getting whipped by Chicago a year ago was painful. But fourth-line Sharks winger Ben Eager, who played on that Blackhawks team, remembers how his teammates felt when Detroit smacked around his Chicago squad in the Western Conference Finals the previous year.

"We learned so much from them," Eager said. "You learn how much it takes in the playoffs and how the real battle begins in the last two rounds. Losing to us last year probably showed this team how much they have to give, and that's why everyone in this room is very confident. They understand."

It helps when you have endured the most pressure-packed situations imaginable and survived. This is a team that already was 5-0 in overtime this postseason before last Thursday's pressure-cooker.

Devin Setoguchi said that in the third period of Game 7, as the Sharks were fending off the Red Wings' desperate late attack, there was a sense on the bench that they could handle this.

"We've been in these spots before," Setoguchi said. "Now, I think the nerves are settled down a lot more than they were before. That's the experience we've gained, and that definitely helps."

Boyle is one of five Sharks players to have won a Stanley Cup with a different team. He said San Jose will be better going forward for having battled a pesky Los Angeles squad and then enduring the heart-stopping series against Detroit.

"Adversity means something," he said. "You don't get to raise the Stanley Cup without going through some."

And as the Sharks left for Vancouver, it was clear they have tired of the age-old question about this franchise -- is this finally the year?

"We got to the conference final last year," Thornton said. "Everyone seems to forget that. We've been here before. But hopefully we can grow beyond it."